Chairman McClelland called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. In attendance were Commissioners Charlie Challstrom, Peggy Ebner, Steve Werts and alternate Missy Yachup. Also in attendance were Town residents Bob Booher, Georgette Cole, David Neumann and Carolyn Sanford.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes for November were approved.

Building Permits

The following building permits were reviewed by the Planning Commission (PC):

115 Chestnut Avenue – Carolyn Sanford presented amended plans for a new home at 115 Chestnut. The plans reflected a revision in footprint size as was approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). Chairman McClelland noted that the fireplace appeared to touch the ground on the outside increasing the footprint beyond what was approved by the BZA. Ms. Sanford stated that the builder assured her that the fireplace is to be cantilevered over the ground and will not touch the ground at any point. The cantilevered fireplace was noted on the plans by Chairman McClelland and the change was signed by Ms. Sanford. The amended permit was unanimously approved.

HPC/PC Procedures

Bob Bohrer presented the HPC’s position on the procedural timing issues for processing building permits. The HPC feels they have been following the intent of Article 16, Section 5A in the Town Ordinances for the last four years by providing an HPC review to the applicant within 30 days of the HPC meeting to review the application. Commissioner Challstrom stated that he interpreted the Ordinance to mean that the 30-day clock starts when the HPC receives the permit from the PC. David Neumann stated that the HPC reviews the permit plans as a group and if the applicant submits their application after the HPC meeting, it will be more than 30 days before the permit is reviewed. Mr. Bohrer suggested having applicants submit their plans to the HPC first and that a preliminary or final HPC review be a requirement when submitting their permit to the PC. Commissioner Challstrom noted that he feels that wasn’t the intent of the Ordinance and the HPC needs to develop a process to review permits between meetings or meet more than once per month. Mr. Neumann stated that meeting more than once a month is not reasonable to expect of volunteers. Commissioner Werts asked how many times an applicant has been delayed by the process. When he was told that it had only happened a couple of times, he asked why the HPC/PC was trying to fix a process that wasn’t broken. The Commissioners and HPC members present agreed to continue with the current process unchanged.

Master Plan Update

Commissioner Challstrom presented an amended Introduction (see attachment A) for the Master Plan and noted that this was the last change that was needed. A motion was made to forward the Ordinance for Adoption to the Town Council (see attachment C). Also noted that the Master Plan is now posted on the Town website.
Report from Town Council – See attachment “B”.